Tuesday, June 29, 2010

climbing nipple mnt.

Finally i went on a hike again.on top

looking at it from the east.

I left at 7.30 am, wanting to make a good start. I have done this hike many times, and the first part i even have a trail, that i flagged in blue a few years back. In half an hour i am at that specific trail, following my ribbons through the forest. First i am happy to see atv tracks, someone is using my trail! I am always happy about that, because it makes for a better trail. After a while the atv tracks stop, as the trail becomes to hard to continue for a machine. After climbing the first ridge, going into the old creek bed where the forest is quite thick, i suddenly see some orange tape, not mine. They continued on foot! that makes me really happy, and i'd love to know who it was.Soon there is no trail, the meadow i normally cross is quite wet, so i decide to turn north before it. Now this is the tough part,which actually always seems longer than it is. I come out by the foot of the mountain more to the East than usually, which is my luck because from here it turns out to be a straight climb up, instead of up and down through alder groves and such.In just over two hours i stand on the top, a bit of a wind but blue skies. Here i like to wander a bit and sit and enjoy the views in all directions. Sitting there, i contemplate, it is still early enough to go on to the next top higher, i really do not want to go back yet. In the past i have tried many different routes to get to this top. I know there is one route i never tried, because it is a little longer, but it follows a beautiful ridge for a while.So i decide to go back that way, thinking it might be the worst decision, because i don't know what the terrain will be like.The ridge is easy to reach and has big slabs of bedrock, forests with little dwarf poplar, beautiful spruce and some big solitary pine trees and of course great views. Then the ridge ends :) hmmm... well i knew that, i point myself into a certain direction that makes the most sense. and from here i am in dense forest,but here and there lovely openings

I do come upon some tangled dead fall, too high to climb over too low to crawl under.I manage and as always kind of loving it,but hoping it won't last too long. It doesn't. Now i have to keep my eyes open for an existing trail that will cross my path. I could easily miss it which could mean i have to bus whack all the way into the subdivision and when i miss that too eventually i will come out by the highway.The trail is really an old cut line that nobody uses.Lucky again, i see an old sawed off log, look left and right and indeed there is the trail. From here it's an easy walk home, i take of my sweater, which i only had to were for protection. Another hot day and at home i lay in the sun to rest.